put ~ in play
メディア王 ルパート・マードックがタイムワーナー社に触手を伸ばしているようです。
Rupert Murdoch Said to Have Made Offer for Time Warner
Twenty-First Century Fox, the media empire run by Rupert Murdoch, made an $80 billion takeover bid in recent weeks for Time Warner but was rebuffed, people briefed on the matter said on Wednesday.
The bold approach could put Time Warner in play and might again ignite a reshaping of the media industry, prompting a new spate of mega-mergers among the nation’s largest entertainment companies.
Mr. Murdoch has built a global media juggernaut over nearly five decades spanning studios, television channels and newspapers, in part, by pursuing bold deals that were often rebuffed at first by the targets of his overtures, only to later acquiesce.
put~in playは文字通りには「〜をもてあそぶ」ですが，こうしたM&Aの文脈では「〜に影響を及ぼす」→「動揺を与える」となるそうです。大きな犬ににらまれた子犬のイメージでとらえておこうと思います。（Five -2になりました...）
